The Other Side
by Sonic Jackson
Summary: This actually was an old story I did a long time ago called "This Is It," which had featured Michael Jackson, but I decided to redo it and make it better. This story takes place weeks before Jackson's death.
1. Prelude

"Mr. Jackson, over here, please!"

"Mr. Jackson, turn around please."

"Michael, can I get one snapshot, please?"

"Mr. Jackson, is is true that you're staying in london after your concert series?"

Michael Jackson sighed as he managed to get out of the crowd of news reporters and climbed into his SUV. The press never seemed to get tired of stalking him and invading his privacy. He coudn't even go home in peace without reporters badering him

As the SUV drove away from the crowd of bloodthirsty reporters, Michael let out another sigh. This time, it was a sigh of relief.

_Thank God tomorrow is Friday, and I don't have any rehersals for the weekend, _he thought. _I can just stay home..._

* * *

><p><em>Later on...<em>

Michael, flanked by one of his bodygaurds walked up the steps to his house, tired from rehersals and fighting (almost literally) through a crowd of reporters.

_Home, sweet home._

Michael dug into his pants pocket for his house keys, only to find out they were no longer in his pocket.

"Crap," he muttered under his breath.

"Loose your keys?" the bodygaurd asked.

"Yeah. They must've slipped out of my pocket when I was in the SUV."

"I'll go get them for you," the bodygaurd said.

"No, that's okay . I'll go get them myself."

"Are you sure, Mike? The car's still parked outside the gates."

"I'll be fine. It's not like I'll get hit in the head with something while I'm out there." And with that, Michael walked off to the car.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in a dimension far different from Michael's, a certian blue hedgehog was sitting on a tree branch in a park, watching the people below him walk by. The hedgehog tossed a small acorn from one hand to the other, not only enjoying the shade from the tree's leaves, but not doing anything at all. Period. And why, you might ask?<p>

bescause this particular hedgehog, though he hated to admit it, was a prince. Though to most people, he was Sonic the Hedgehog, defender of Mobius.

Sonic almost never acknowledged his royal status, pefering to be trated as a normal citizen of Mobodon. It hardly mattered, as protecting the city, as well as it's next door neighbor, Mobotropolis, made him even more famous.

The cobalt hedgehog sighed, and tossed the acorn onto the street. Sonic then jumped off the tree branch, surprising a few pedestrians who were walking by when he landed. The people only got to see him for a second, before he ran off with speed that would make Usain Bolt jealous.

* * *

><p>"See? I got the keys, and didn't get hurt in the process." Michael joked, jingling the said keys from his hand.<p>

"Well let's go inside before something _does _happen," the bodygaurd chuckled.

"What could possibly happen?" Michael said as he unlocked the door.

* * *

><p><em>Comin' up with a bomb base, and you give chase<br>t__o the rhymes I be bringin' to the mic, in your face  
>Whatcha gonna do when I come for you?<br>Call you out to the stage for a battle for two  
>Don't choke, don't toke on the amber weed<br>'Cause you better have it all on the floor indeed  
>I come spittin fire, killin' your desire,<br>So you better be prepared to be callin' me "sire"_

Sonic, still running, reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Sonic!" It was Tails. "You need to come to my house, quick! Something's happening to the Chaos Emralds!"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Please read and reveiw. And if you want to know what song was used for Sonic's ringtone, just ask and I'll send you the link.<em>**


	2. Straight Outta California

_**Chapter 2:**** Straight**** Outta California**_

* * *

><p>"What's going on, Tails?" Sonic asked as soon as he walked into the workshop connected to the said fox's house.<p>

"I don't know," Tails said. "They've been glowing on and off almost all day. I ran tests on them before I called you, but I got nothing."

Sonic raised an eybrow. "That's pretty weird. Can I see them?"

"Sure, follow me."

Sonic followed his young friend into his small, but state-of-the-art labatory, whre he kept most of his weapons and other inventions.

When the duo walked inside, Sonic could tell from all the brand new weapons and scanners that his friend had been very busy lately.

"What've you been making all these lasers and guns for?" Sonic asked curiously as he scanned the room.

Tails scrached his head sheepeishly. "I dunno... I guess it's just a hobby I do," he explained with a shrug.

Sonic shook his head. "I pity the fool that tries to break into your house," he quipped, earning a laugh from the kitsune.

The two kept walking until they came to a bullet and laser resistiant glass cabinet that held the seven mystical gems. The glow emmiting from the emeralds brightened for one second, and dimmed the next, repeating the process with each second that passed. Sonic opened the cabinet and took out one of the Emeralds.

"I wonder if the Sol Emeralds might have anything to do with this?" Sonic wondered aloud as he inspected the Emerald in his hand.

"I don't think so..." Tails said. "...I think they're trying to call out to some_body_, not some_thing._"

Then, as if on cue, the Emerald stopped flashing and shined brightly. The light was so bright that the two heros had to cover their eyes. After a few seconds, the light disappeared... And the Emerald with it.

* * *

><p>Back on Earth, a fairly fusturated Michael was sitting on his bed, staring at an scrawled-up page in one of his notebooks. He had been trying to write a song, but couldn't seem to get it right. Sighing in fustration, he ripped the ruined pages from his notebook and tossed them into his waste basket.<p>

_Why can't I write anything meaningful? _he thought to himself. _Anything I write is either played out, or just plain weak. I'm missing something, I know that. But what is it that I'm missing...?_

Sighing again, Michael got up from his bed. As soon as he did, however, A blinding light enveloped the entire room, causing Michael to stumble backwards. the singer futily tried to sheild his eyes from the light with his hand.

As quickly as the light came, it disappeared, leaving a red diamond-cut gem floating in midair.

_Okaaay... That's a ten on the weirdness scale. _Michael got up and dusted his clothes off.

_What is that thing?_

Michael walked towards the floating Emerald, and lightly touched it with his hand.

In that percise moment, another bright light lit up the entire room.

This time, when the light disappeared, so did Michael and the Emerald.


	3. A Painful Landing

**_Chapter 3: A Painful Landing_**

* * *

><p>Unbeliveable.<p>

That's the only word Michael could use to describe what was happening.

He was flying though what seemed to be space - which Michael would've thought to be impossible without a spaceship - passing galaxies and star clusters nearly at the speed of light. Michael couldn't even comprehend what was happening (partily due to him going so fast), whizzing by planets, moons and nebulas.

_If only my kids could experince this, _he thought.

After about two minutes of flight, a sharp pain ratdiated through his right arm. Michael yelped in pain and grabbed it with his left arm. Pain immediately shot through that arm as well, as if the arms were trying to repel away from each other.

Before Michael could even react to _that, _more pain came, this time through his legs and torso, causing Michael to scream in agony.

Unbeknownst to Michael, The pain was the result of his body going through a transformation. his legs, arms and body shrank, his feet and hands became bigger, as well as his head. His head became rounder, and his face became more like a hedgehog's face. His brow merged together and became bigger as well, also causing his eyes to increase in size.

The last thng Michael saw before passing out from the pain was a Earth-sized planet...

* * *

><p><em>Back in Mobodon...<em>

"Do you always have to be so cruel to your dates?"

"He had it coming to him, the jerk."

Queen Aleena, Sonic's mother, sighed. It was always the same thing with her friend: No man was good enough for her. Ever since her husband died, she had amonisty toward most of the men she dated. Several of the men she dated usually left with cuts and bruises on their faces. Though a good eighty percent of those men were perverts to begin with.

"Bureizu, you're never gonna find another husband - or even a boyfriend in this case - if you keep cutting up nearly every man you meet. And what's worse, you're a pyrokenetic. I'm honestly surprised you havent roasted anyone yet."

Queen Bureizu, a purple cat with long hair and yellow eyes, didn't answer. Instead, she looked down at her feet, her face emotionless.

Aleena started to frown. "Bureizu, before your husband died, you were the happiest person I've ever known. I understand that you'd be sad after his passing, but it's been almost six years..." the pruple hedgehog scratched her head, and let out another

the two sat there in uncomfortable scilence for a while, until Bureizu, who couldn't take the memories of her late husband anymore, started crying softly.

Aleena saw this and regretted that she ever brought the subject up. She got up, went over to Bureizu, and hugged her.

"I'm sorry," she started to apologize. "I should've never-"

"N-no," The purple feline manged to get out between sobs. "Don't be. I was never happy with him in the first place."

Aleena's eyes widened in shock. "What...?"

"He... He was such a bastard. He treated me like dirt, even though I gave him all my soul. He wouldn't even sleep in the same bed with me. The only time we did was when he got me pregnant..."

"Shh, don't cry again..." Aleena pulled Bureizu closer to her and wrapped her arms around her. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I thought no one would believe me. I wanted to hurt him my self, but our marrige was supposed to unify my kingdom together with his, and I didn't want to do anything that would stop the unification."

"I... I don't know what to say," the violet hedgehog admitted.

* * *

><p><em>Back with Sonic and Tails...<em>

"Anything on the radar yet, Tails?" Sonic shouted from the wing of the Tornado.

"Not a thing," Tails shouted back. "I don't think the Chaos Emerald is on the planet anymore, Sonic."

Sonic cursed. "Now what? If it's not here on Mobius then where could it have gone?"

"It couldn't have gone far. The only way it could've completely left our dimension is if all seven were to disappear."

"You sure? Because I don't wanna-" Sonic broke off his sentence when he suddenly saw smoke in the distance.

"The hell? Tails do you see that?"

"Yeah. Can you tell where it's coming from?"

"I think it's the Green Hill zone. C'mon, Let's go see what happened."


End file.
